MIT has set tuition and fees for 2004-05 and has earmarked $5 million in new financial aid funds to assist undergraduate students with the financing of their educations, President Charles M. Vest announced. Tuition and fees for the upcoming year will total $30,800, an increase of 4.05 percent over this year.
"We admit remarkably talented young men and women solely on the basis of their academic merit, and then make financial aid available to our entering students solely on the basis of their financial need. This is crucial at MIT, where approximately 12 percent of undergraduates come from the bottom income quartile," said Vest.
Approximately 55 percent of undergraduates will receive an average MIT scholarship of $23,000. More than 75 percent of MIT undergraduates receive some type of financial aid, including scholarships, grants, low-interest student loans and student employment.
Scholarship and grant assistance for undergraduates next year will total nearly $64 million, of which $52 million will be provided by MIT. The remainder comes from federal, state and private sources.
Dean for Undergraduate Education Robert P. Redwine commented, "The additional $5 million in new financial aid funds is the latest step in a progressive expansion of undergraduate financial aid in recent years. MIT's undergraduate scholarship budget has risen 64 percent in the past five years, compared to a 13 percent increase in the Consumer Price Index."
He noted that all MIT students receive a subsidy, since tuition represents approximately 50 percent of the actual cost of educating each student. The difference between the cost and the tuition is subsidized for all students by returns on invested endowment and annual gifts from alumni and other supporters.
In addition to scholarships, grants and loans, MIT provides students with opportunities for term-time jobs in community service, research and other areas as a way for them to finance a portion of their education. The amount a student is expected to contribute to his or her education (through scholarships from private sources, low-interest loans and term-time work) is unchanged at $5,500 for the coming year, continuing a reduction in this "self-help" expectation from a high of $8,600 in 1997-98.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on March 10, 2004.
